Anmerkung
A Microalgae Industry Internet DirectoryProducing bio fuels from micro algae oil has recently been proposed as a renewable, carbon neutral and alternative to fossil-based transportation fuels. The excessive commercial and political interest in sustainable sources for transportation fuels from renewable is creating new opportunities, but also new challenges for industrial algae producers. In contrast to the increasing interest in this industry, it is very difficult to get an overview of which companies are already able to supply algae, and which production volumes are realistic. Because of their biochemical and morphological diversity, there is a growing market for micro algae in a commercial scale, the total production of micro algae is 5000 tons per annum. Micro algae are able to synthesis fatty acids (FA) especially essential polyunsaturated fatty acids like eicosapentaenoic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid or docosahexaenoic acid as well and generally their nutritional value is relatively high. Therefore, they are in great demand. In many cases, the nutritional value is higher than in conventional food like meat, milk or soybeans. Commercial products are pills, capsules, extracts or powder, or they are use as additive in beverages or pasta. The global sales reach up to 2.5 Billion US $, There are various fields next to the food industry that benefit from the biotechnology of micro algae. For example, the aqua cultivation, the feed and pharmaceutical industry or sectors of chemistry, pet food, health food or the cosmetic industry as well have application of different species of micro algae. Diverse companies worldwide produce fine chemicals like dyes or fatty acids, analytical standards for algal toxins and natural carotenoids.The most important micro algae used commercially are Spirulina spp., Chlorella spp. and Dunaliella spp. The world production of the bluegreen algae Spirulina reaches approximately 3,000 t per annum. Primarily, the species Spirulina and Aphanizomenon flo-aquae are used for the production of natural dyes like phycocyanin and phycoerythrin. The carotenoids beta-carotene and astaxanthin are synthesized in high amounts from Dunaliella and Haematococcus. Furthermore, the report gives an overview of diverse companies that are working in the fields of marine biotechnology, which are shown in a graphic presentation. Thus companies could be found in North, Middle and South America, in Asia, especially in China, Japan and India and as well as in Europe and Australia. The cultivation in open systems is primarily used in the Asia-Pacific rim, many companies which are located in Europe and the USA in contrast offer different technologies for the marine biotechnologies..During the last years, the production of regenerative energies like biodiesel from micro algae and the genetic engineering with micro algae have been gaining in much importance. Through genetic engineering many companies and scientists are trying to develop transgenic micro algae for the commercial use. Thus the content of oil or the yield of carotenoids and dyes should be enhanced as well as the production of proteins through micro algae should be facilitatedFurthermore, the biotechnology of micro algae is developing a solution to use micro algae for the commercial production of biodiesel in an industrial scale. At this point, it exists an interface between genetic modifications of micro algae, because the directed production of suitable long-chain hydrocarbons in micro algae could lead to higher yields for the production of bio diesel.

Based on a recent internet search, we present here a list of algae producers and companies currently developing production technology. This list doesn't claim to be complete yet. It is, however, the most comprehensive web directory of this industry publicly available.